Archive for November, 2011

Once upon a time, there was a girl, named Snow White, who cooked and cleaned for seven men until she was killed by a piece of fruit. Don’t worry, she was brought back by a little harmless necrophilia, aka kiss from a Prince. In 2012, this charming tale will be retold, twice. One starring Kristen Stewart and one starring Lily Collins.

You’ll be glad to know that in the original story there was no necrophilia; Snow White was very much alive when the prince kissed her. She woke back up when the glass coffin was dropped and a piece of the poison apple was dislodged from her throat, then and only then, when it was completely legal, did the prince kiss her, though he had just bought her to put on display (not kidding the seven dwarfs sold the corpse). Next year two Snow White live action adaptions are coming out, one’s a comedy and then the others your typical Hollywood dark remake.

The first to hit cinemas is Mirror Mirror, starring Lily Collins, which comes out in March 2012. It’s a light hearted, almost parody, of the fairy tale. In it, Snow White is banished into the forest were she meets the seven dwarfs. She then leads them in a fight against the men sent by the evil queen. One of these men is the prince, who Snow White had fallen in love with, but he’s under a spell.

It seems to be the same basic story as the fairy tale with a bit of comedy thrown in. This version is the lighter of the two and is aimed more towards children and teen girls. It looks extremely over the top and stylised, yet somehow cheap at the same time. Most of it the scenery just looks like a movie set, which obviously it is. Julia Roberts’ character seems to make jokes that are more for the older audience, but it really just comes off as a bad Shrek rip-off.

The second film will be released in June 2012 and is titled Snow White and the Huntsman. This one is significantly darker than the other and is reminiscent of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, which may be because it has the same producers. In this story Snow White teams up with the Huntsman to defeat the queen. It’s a unique twist on the tail, but maybe they’ve twisted it too much. I’m all for dark remakes, but they have to make sense. What exactly does this have to do with Snow White?

Lack of faith to the source material aside, this is the version that is more likely to get me into the cinema as it’s definitely aimed at an older, probably male, audience, though Twilight fans will no doubt also go see it. In my opinion, this is by far the better of the two and I’d be surprised if it doesn’t prove more popular than the former.

What do you think? Which one would you prefer to see? Do you think the story needed updating? Would you ever put a dead person on display? Let me know by voting and leaving a comment below. Also don’t forget to subscribe/follow and click the like button.

The Dark Knight Rises will be released in July 2012, a full four years after The Dark Knight which came out in July 2008, but the events of the film are set eight years after those of The Dark Knight.

As fans impatiently wait to see how Christopher Nolan’s Batman series comes to an end, they can count themselves lucky that they don’t actually have to wait the extra four years. The story follows Bruce Wayne as he faces his biggest enemy yet, in physical size at least. The enemy I’m referring to is of course the loss of Rachel and his parents, oh and then there’s Bane and Cat Woman who will also be making appearances. Seriously though, the Batman persona has always been about avenging the loss of his parents, seems like therapy would have been easier. If he finally faces these issues, will he hang up his cape? It is the finally movie in the franchise after all.

Also recently, an outdoor fight scene between Bane and Batman was shot in New York, set in a blizzard. Tom Hardy, the actor playing Bane, said the fight was so overwhelming to shoot, as there were a thousand extras and it was hard to tell which where the stuntmen he was supposed to attack. Another possible ending would be the ‘man that broke the bat’ storyline, were Bane puts Batman in a wheelchair by snapping his back. I’ve said it before but I really think this is a possibility, it doesn’t have to be depressing he could go on to defeat Bane using cleverly placed banana peels near the edge of cliffs. Okay, so there may be a few holes in that theory.

Either way the series is coming to an end and it’s sure to go out with a bang, but I have to ask; why eight years? Why not four? Four makes more sense, so there has to be a reason that it’s eight. What do you think? Should Batman go to therapy? Will Bane put him in a wheelchair? How do you think the series should end? Let me know by voting and leaving a comment below. Also don’t forget to subscribe/follow and click the like button.

Another Japanese film bites the dust. Akira, a hit 1988 anime film, is being remade by, you guessed it, Hollywood. Let the white washing begin.

Akira is set in a dark post world war III Tokyo called Neo-Tokyo. It follows the leader of a motorcycle gang, who accidentally gets involved with an underground dissident terrorist group. They then uncover the truth about what really destroyed Tokyo years before. Naturally, the new, live action, film is set in Neo-New York rather than Neo-Tokyo and will star a mostly American cast.

Tron: Legacy star Garrett Hedlund has been cast as the male lead, Kaneda, while Kristen Stewart, who you may remember from Twilight, has been offered the role of Kei, the female lead and love interest of Kaneda. Numerous other actors have been offered roles, but none have been confirmed yet, these include Helena Bonham Carter and Gary Oldman.

The anime film was a success and is considered by many to have had a major influence on the style of Japanese animation. However, before it was an anime it was a manga series and the film was criticised for attempting to fit the whole story into one. This time they don’t intend on making the same mistake as they are planning two films rather than one.

Jaume Collet-Serra is directing the films. He’s a Spanish filmmaker who has previously directed such films as: House of Wax and Orphan, both of which were negatively received. With live action anime adaptations, like Gantz, being made by Japanese directors, it may be time for Hollywood to pull out of Japan and star working on original projects.

What do you think? Are you excited about this film? Have you ever seen or read the original Akira film or manga? Do you think the casting is right? Let me know by voting and leaving a comment below. Also don’t forget to subscribe/follow and click the like button.

A few months ago Screen Gems, the production company behind the Resident Evil films, bought the movie rights for Devil May Cry. With the game franchise currently undergoing a reboot, what can fans expect from the film?

This isn’t the first time a Devil May Cry movie has been planned. In the past the idea was eventually scraped, unless you include the disappointing fan film that was really a ploy to get funding for another project. Perhaps this too will end up disappearing into production hell, but considering the amount of money Screen Gems have made from the Resident Evil films, which is also a Capcom game series, it seems likely that the project will go ahead.

Very little information has been given about the film, though we do know the plot follows Dante as he tries to avenge his mother’s murder. It’s hard to imagine an actor that would be able to step into the role and it’s even harder to picture someone being able to do those stunts in live action, that is without it looking more ridiculous than badass.

Fans are also worried about whether the film would be based on the old version of Dante or the reboot. Considering that the reboot isn’t out yet, and presuming the script is currently underway, it’s safe to say that the old Dante is the only possible way to go. The new game won’t come out until next year, at the earliest, so they aren’t going to wait for that before they begin work. A more likely possibility was that Dante wouldn’t be featured in any form, which is what happened with the first Resident Evil film which used none of the game characters. Though the announcement seems to have put that theory to rest, it’s still possible.

What do you think? Are you excited or nervous about the film? Who do you want to be cast as Dante? Which characters would you like to see in the film? Let me know by voting and leaving a comment below. Also don’t forget to subscribe/follow and click the like button.

Have you ever wanted to be in a big Hollywood blockbuster, but lack the obvious talent that is, most of the time, necessary for the job? Well here’s your chance to be a part of The Dark Knight Rises, no skills needed.

At Comic Con 2010, the audience were asked to chant certain words and sounds as they appeared on the screen. These were then used as the noise of the crowd in the games grid screen in Tron Legacy. The makers of Dark Knight Rises are giving fans the same opportunity, but this time from the comforts of their own home. By going to ujam.com, you can record your voice saying ‘Deh-shay bah-sah-rah mean’ and it will be used, along with thousands of others, in the final film. You can go as fast of slow as you want, they can fix that in editing, and don’t worry about the pronunciation as there is a sample you can listen too.

Now go forth and secure your place Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. In years to come, if you have no greater achievements, you can tell your grandkids all about how you were, technically, in one of the best, by then classic, movies of all time. Though I hope you go on to have some much greater successes than this, it’s still a fun story to pass along and who knows, if this trend catches on, your voice could be in all your favourite movies. Come on Resident Evil.

What do you think? Are you going to make a recording? Do you hope to achieve greater things in your life time? Is there a movie series that you want to be a part of? Let me know by voting and leaving a comment below. Also don’t forget to subscribe/follow and click the like button.

This morning my plane arrived, on time, in Dublin airport. I didn’t sleep last night so I’m not going to attempt a big post, but hopefully I’ll manage to get one up tomorrow. I had a great time, however I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again.